TalkTalk braces itself for a huge cyberattack bill of £35 million

The cost of last month’s cyberattack on TalkTalk is likely to top £35 million, the company’s CEO, Dido Harding, has admitted in an interview.

TalkTalk has admitted that “one-off costs” related to last month’s cyberattack could total £35 million.

In an interview with the BBC, the company’s CEO, Dido Harding, said that this covers its response to the breach, “incremental” inquiries to its call centers, IT expenses and loss of revenue.

While representing a significant hit to its finances, the telecommunications company is nevertheless confident that it will bounce back from this major incident and “deliver strong and sustainable long-term growth”.

“Time will tell but the early signs are that customers think we are doing the right thing.”

“We of course saw an immediate spike in customers cancelling their direct debit, but actually after a few days we saw many of those customers reinstating their direct debits again,” Ms. Harding said in an interview with the broadcaster’s business editor, Kamal Ahmed.

“So time will tell, but the early signs are that customers think we are doing the right thing.”

In its continuing effort to restore trust, TalkTalk also announced today (November 11th) that it would provide free upgrades for all of its customers.

On top of this, it has has developed a “new bundle” of online and telephone security features, which will add further protection against malware, scammers and cold callers looking to exploit vulnerable victims.

Additionally, those who have been financially affected will be allowed to terminate their contracts without incurring a penalty, it said.